I. Department Chair's Message

“Psychology is about analyzing the past in order to look forward to a brighter future. If we all focus on innovating our field, our future conversations will revolve less around problems, and more on solutions”, said Nicholas Covino, president of the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (renamed William James College in 2015).

The proclamation of Nicholas could not be more pertinent than at the present times vis-à-vis the focus on innovation, primarily because of the enormous challenges humanity faced during COVID-19 Pandemic, including mental health. To keep pace with the dramatically shifting demands, it was imperative to make a paradigm shift in our approach, strategy and delivery of psychology education at Effat University.

The Department of Psychology at Effat University envisions to prepare students for versatile professional roles, bound for reforming the mental health and psychological wellbeing of individuals, communities, and organizations, through offering the evidence-based knowledge and understanding of human behavior, mind and emotions, supplemented with the relevant state-of-the-art technology. The department aims to enhance collaboration with local and international universities, industry and organizations.to create and integrate innovative technology embedded within traditional psychology educational theories, pedagogies and practices.

To continue to expand its landscape in the psychology education sector, and to meet the rising need of mental health professionals in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, the Department of Psychology plans to offer an international standard master’s degree in clinical psychology. One of the unique features of the soon to be launched master’s degree will be integration of technology into mental health education to prepare future clinical psychologists and therapist trained and proficient in the ‘digitalized’ mental health services like telemental health, telepsychology, e-therapy, cyber-counseling, etc. To augment this futuristic goal, the Department aims to establish state-of-the art laboratories equipped with hard and software like AR/VR, GSR, biofeedback systems, etc.

To enhance our students and faculty experiences, the Department plans to continue and expand the international collaborations through student exchange programs, study a semester abroad, professional development, its international conference and hosting international students and faculty. The Department will ensure maintaining its full national reaccreditation and will work with the University and College on attaining international accreditation by the end of the strategic plan. The Department also plans to increase its visibility nationally and internationally.